A year in France

The Side of the Highway

You never know what you will see on the side of the country roads here in France.

To get from D’s school (and the center of town) to our place, you have to travel for about 5 minutes on a 4-lane country highway that goes through the forest of Fontainebleau.

Sometimes, especially in the evening, you see deer. Or wild boars.

Other times, especially in the day, you see men peeing on the side of the road. Or, prostitutes.

Yes, that’s right.

Young women (and sometimes, unfortunately, young teenagers) stand in pairs just a few feet off the road’s shoulder, wearing puffy jackets, tight pants and too much makeup. They’re strategically located a few kilometres from one another, and they’re standing on each major road that leaves the city, so there’s obviously a lot of forethought (and a business plan?) that goes into this.

They’ll usually be there for a day or two, then leave, and not come back for a few more weeks.

The first time I saw these girls, I drove past and thought,

“Oh wow, someone’s car broke down, that sucks! I wonder if I should help…no, I don’t speak French. Well, they probably have a cell phone anyway.”

Then…

“Hmmm that’s weird, they don’t have a car. How could it have broken down?”

Then…

“Wow, they’re dressed like …. Ohhhhhh!”

What can I say, I’m a bit slow on the uptake?

This summer, my friends and I were driving back from a store and were practically in an accident after some dumbass guy decided, at the last minute, to stop for one of the girl. Basically, he slammed on his breaks so hard and suddenly that about 6 cars behind him (all, of course, tailgating because that’s what they do here in France) had to slam on their breaks, and we all almost crashed into each other. Fortunately, we didn’t.

Thanks, dude. Glad it couldn’t wait.

Honestly, though, I’m really surprised that this goes on in France. Remember, we aren’t in some really run-down, dangerous part of a big American city, where you might see women walking the street. No, these spots are on country roads in the forest, near pretty pricey real estate in the nearby villages. It’s shocking to see these girls standing by the side of the road, and the police just ignoring it – we’re not in a poor country, here, we’re in France!

What the hell? Does anyone have an information about this? It seems that prostitution is illegal in France, but obviously the officials don’t really go after it. Even more disturbing, a lot of these girls look like they aren’t French, meaning they were trafficked here. Which gives an entirely more seedy and sad dimension to the whole thing.